1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a closing device of the type specified in the preamble of claim 1. The closing cylinder is a component of a pusher which comprises further components. Similar to the way in which a closing cylinder can be divided into a cylinder core and a cylinder guide, this division is continued in the pusher, and this is why one can refer to radially inner core parts and radially outer sleeve parts of the pusher.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the known closing device of this kind (DE 44 08 910 A1) a pusher base is rotatably supported at the inner end of the pusher and is axially moved upon pushing. The actuation of the locking elements is realized by a pusher arm which is provided on a pusher base and upon axial pushing movement of the pusher contacts a first locking element and moves it. The core parts of the pusher are fixedly connected for common rotation to the pusher base and can be switched by the key between two rotational positions. In the known device these result in two differently acting angular positions of the pusher arm, i.e., one position aligned with the first locking element and thus active during pushing and one non-aligned position that is inactive during pushing. This device has been successfully used; however, there are problems when this device is to be used together with a central locking device which in the following is shortly referred to as xe2x80x9cCL devicexe2x80x9d.
A CL device is desirable when the present locking device is to be controlled together with further locking devices. This is necessary when the device mentioned in the preamble of claim 1 is arranged at the rear of a vehicle and further locking devices are provided at the doors of the vehicle which have their own locks. Then a CL device is used acting on a CL lever in each one of the different locking devices and switching it between two pivot positions, i.e., a secure position in which the CL device acts on the locks of the different locking devices such that they cannot be actuated by their respective actuator and further an unsecured position in which these locks can be actuated by their actuator.
When combining such a CL lever with the closing device mentioned in the preamble of claim 1, a lever base is to be used which belongs to the CL lever and is rotatably supported at the inner end of the pusher adjacent to the aforementioned pusher base. In such a combination with the known closing device the CL lever and the pusher arm are always synchronously movable. This results in operational disruptions in that rotational position of the core parts in which the pusher arm is in its inactive position and the CL lever is thus in its secured position. In this case, in order to avoid manipulations, the pusher base is to be blocked. When the CL device is now switched, jamming in the interior of the components of the known closing device can occur. This jamming action can result in that the key cannot be inserted into the closing cylinder. This results in considerable operational disruptions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reliable closing device of the aforementioned kind in which the aforementioned operational disruptions can no longer occur. This is inventively achieved by the measures characterized by the following particularities.
The pusher base which comprises the pusher arm actuating the locking elements is connected by coupling means with the lever base of the CL lever which is controlled by the CL drive. These coupling means are now activated or deactivated by the core parts of the pusher arm. In the secured position of the core parts already mentioned before in which the pusher arm is in its inactive position, the coupling means are in the decoupled position. Now the CL lever is free and can be moved by the CL drive between the secured and unsecured positions without this having an effect on a positional change of the pusher arm. The CL lever is in xe2x80x9cfree-wheelingxe2x80x9d state. Accordingly, the aforementioned jamming of the components of the device according to the invention can no longer occur.
This is changed only when the core parts are moved by the key into their other rotational position which is referred to as the xe2x80x9cnormal positionxe2x80x9d. In this case, the coupling means between the pusher base and the lever base are activated, and this provides the desired fixed connection for common rotation between the CL lever and the pusher arm.